Profanity vs Synapse
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Profanity
Console-based XMPP client inspired by irssi
VS
Synapse
Reference homeserver for the Matrix network
| Feature | Profanity | Synapse |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,530 | ★ 4,503 |
| First released | 2012 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Slack | Slack, Discord, WhatsApp |
Why pick each one
Choose Profanity if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Profanity or Synapse better?
Neither is universally better. Synapse has the larger community, while Profanity is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Profanity and Synapse free and open-source?
Yes. Profanity is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Synapse under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Profanity and Synapse with Docker?
Profanity: check the project docs for container support. Synapse: yes.